I do recall one news item from several months back, where a school bus driver was fired for leading a prayer on the bus. She filed suit because of the dismissal, and I suppose the case is pending. Haven't heard anything about it lately. In this case however, she asked the parents in advance by mailed letters, if they were OK with the prayer. Every one of them said yes, please do this. Every single one of the students wanted this also.
So this would seem to be an instance where everyone wanted this, and the school became unconstitutionally involved by denying prayer. Though the federal courts directed no mandate directly, it seems like some school principals are totally confused, and thus, to avoid confrontation of any kind, they broad-brush the issue by denying what, here, amounted to a unanimous concensus of the participating citizens. Sorta like a zero tolerance policy.
Of course, we have to assume that all the parents and all the children were for this 100 percent. And then, what about the new kid on the bus? If you were the only student on the bus who didn't want to pray to Jesus Christ (since we can assume with probably 100 percent accuracy that this was Christian prayer, and most likely evangelical) how easy would it be to resist, particularly in High School? Or, how easy would it be to have the child converted to "the one true religion," by daily, public indoctrination?
I believe, actually, that most serious Christians on the path of saving souls want prayer in school for the benefit of those not saved, vs their children who are already in the fold. A chance to show others the "light" and establish Christian solidarity. Just my opinion, but I do come from a family of Southern Baptists. Also, my half-sister in Tennessee found it hard to resist even the non-school related social pressures of her Christian community and "found" Jesus through not wanting to be an outsider. I know for a fact it wasn’t because of some deep inner discovery.
However, what if it was a Muslim prayer or a Jewish prayer that your child would have to sit through every morning? Some mandatory Tora readings? Kneeling towards Mecca at the appropriate times? A sacrifice of goat’s blood to Baul?
What if your son or daughter was one of a handful of "religious minority" students and because of his/her obvious refusal to participate in the group behavior became the target of scorn? What if one day she or he decided that she'd rather convert, because all her friends are pushing her, and it's just easier to get along and it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal anyway? Or, hell, Wicca is actually pretty cool and a lot more exciting than following that Jesus fellow your parents push on you at home!
I imagine you would rather not have your child face that pressure every day, and would think that was an improper use of school time. But when you're part of the majority, the individual rights of others are never that important.
Charon
